http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015mqp2

Paleolithic rock shelter.

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

St Margarets Bay

Frontline Britain Trail at St Margaret’s

The start was slightly delayed by the non-arrival of the
youngest member of the group who had been diverted by the closure of the
Jubilee Way and gone to St Margaret’s Bay instead of the Dover Patrol Memorial
car park in error. The views of France from the car park are very clear. There
is much on the information boards around about the Memorial and the Dover
Patrol which guarded the Channel during the First World War. The walk planned
was the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership ‘Frontline Trail’ and was to be
led by our own man of property. Setting off across the car park we entered a
field and went across it - in the wrong direction. In our defence it has to be
said that a) the interaction with a lady at the gate into the field served to
deflect attention from the instructions in the trail guide and b) the instructions were not the clearest
ever to have been published. At the exit of the field we travelled along a
number of side streets and along a footpath until we were able to join a drove
way and the planned route. At the join with the drove way a couple of llama
were grazing in a field with a horse.

At the end of the drove way we encountered a horse who was
able to confirm that we were now on the correct path – at least his young
female rider did. Doubting our ability to successfully complete the walk, one
of the group unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a lift on the back of the horse.
Having failed in this attempt, we pressed on emerging from the drove way onto
the High Street. Crossing the High Street to Reach Road we passed the duck pond
before turning left into Reach Close. At the end of the close the path heads
across a field toward a woodland area. We stopped for a few minutes to
commiserate with a dog walker who was trying to retrieve her lurcher. We
pressed on towards the woodland where the lurcher was probably rooting around
and enjoying himself. Taking the path by the side of the wood we emerged onto
the South Foreland Road. Travelling along this road until it turned into a dirt
track, we took a small diversion to explore a war time building currently used
by pilgrims for imbibing cans of beer. There were still some blackberries in
the undergrowth. Returning to the South Foreland track for half a mile we
eventually found the indicated path by the side of a cattle grid. Following
this for a few hundred yards we took a side path to the South Foreland
lighthouse where there were a number of benches for the usual lunchtime break.
The conversation ranged from the relative merits of steaming as opposed to
stewing apples well as batch cooking curries! Discussions were augmented by the
banter of a school of children visiting the lighthouse causing a sense of panic
amongst the educationalists in the group.

Setting off for the return journey we rejoined the Frontline
Trail and Saxon Shore Line along the cliff top towards St Margaret’s Bay.
Passing a number of information boards and the windmill we descended through
the valley, eventually arriving at the Pine Gardens and Museum. The Pine
Gardens are built on the site of buildings which were defences against Napoleon
in the Seven Year War. There are a number of tunnels underneath it and the
gardens, which we did not have time to sample, are a tourist attraction. The
waterfall has a number of goldfish and one Koi carp which clearly enjoyed the
remains of the peanut butter cookies. At the end of the road we turned right
into Bay Hill and descended to St Margaret’s Bay. There is a substantial piece
of wall on the side of the road which again are the remains of Napoleonic
defences. We stopped in the Bay for
break and to enjoy an ice cream. The Bay has a history of smuggling as well
being where Ian Fleming wrote some of the James Bond novels. A short way along
the car park there are flights of stairs which rise back up the cliff face to
the Leas. We are again encountered a party of school children who only served
to revive the terrors of the past for two of the group. The path along the Leas
leads directly back to the Memorial car park.